http://www.olatheanimalhospital.com It was a typical busy week at Olathe Animal Hospital, and we try to capture just a small fraction of what the week included in this montage.
This week: Lots of cute puppies, dogs, and cats; bird wellness exams; Heinz the large mixed breed looking for a new home; young puppy with parvo; wound treatment; xraying a rat; hemoabdomen follow-up; hospitalized cat with esophogeal feeding tube; ferret recheck exam; bathing and grooming; and an exceptionally cute kitten!

Treatment for osteoarthritis in dogs (also known as just arthritis) has stepped into the 21st century, thanks to Vet-Stem! They are able to isolate stem cells from a dog’s fat, which a veterinarian can then inject into a dog’s painful, arthritic joints, and the result is regenerative medicine. Thanks to Vet-Stem, many dogs are moving more freely and are pain-free. Follow their posts on Twitter to read about what they’re up to. It’s truly an exciting time in veterinary medicine!

Debbie Jacobs, the person behind @fearfuldogs, is an advocate for training dogs that display fearful behavior. She is very active on Twitter, sharing updates, useful information, contemplative questions, and interacting with other Twitter users. Here’s a sampling of some of her recent posts:

How cool is this? Buy one of these $0.44 US postage stamps and help promote adoption of animals! Halo Pet Foods, co-owned by Ellen DeGeneres, has partnered with the US Postal Service to bring to you these special stamps that feature dogs and cats adopted from shelters.

So why should you follow @halopets? With each new follower, Halo Pet Foods will donate a meal to a shelter pet. Help spread the word! Here’s a sampling of some of their tweets:

If you need to give your cat medication in the form of a pill, this video may help. Dr. Claypool demonstrates administration of a pill using a pill-popper. In this example, the cat is receiving a dewormer (Droncit) for treatment of tapeworms. Alternatively, you can ask your vet if the medication is available in a different form, such as liquid or injectable, but sometimes pills are the best or only option.

As an AAHA-accredited hospital, it’s a given that Olathe Animal Hospital wants to provide the best care possible for all animals. Sometimes, however, an owner can’t afford life-saving treatment or diagnostics, and this is where the AAHA Helping Pets Fundcan help. When an owner can demonstrate financial need, this organization may be able to help. Visit the website for more guidelines on how to apply for financial help:

The AAHA Helping Pets Fund has come to our aid in two memorable cases. One of our patients was Dink, a young and otherwise healthy giant mixed breed dog, who suddenly developed severe pain, lethargy and weight loss. Extensive diagnostics were needed to save his life, and with the help of this organization, Dink made a full recovery and is doing great today.

Our first patient to receive aid from the AAHA Helping Pets Fund was Dixie, a very special 2-year old boxer who had swallowed a corn cob (although we didn’t know it at the time) and needed emergency surgery to save her life. Again, this organization came to the rescue and although it only covered a fraction of the total bill, it gave the owner hope that she could come up with funding for the rest of the bill. Dixie also made a full recovery, and it’s not over-stating it to say she’s alive today because of the AAHA Helping Pets Fund.

As an ongoing thank-you for all they’ve done, we regularly donate to the fund in memory of patients who cross over the rainbow bridge.

Why you should follow

We love following @AAHAHelpingPets because we get to learn about what other pets are receiving help, and they also share lots of other valuable information. They are very active in Twitter and RT quality posts regularly!

Every once in awhile, it’s nice to just look at the sweet, adoring face of a yellow lab! This beautiful dog visited us recently for a wellness check-up.

When a pet arrives at our hospital for its semi-annual wellness exam, we ask the owners to fill out a Disease Risk Assessment form. This helps us customize a vaccination protocol for each pet, so we can avoid unnecessary over-vaccinations. Olathe Animal Hospital follows a 3-year vaccine protocol, which means fewer shots and better care!

Azzore Veterinary Specialists, located in Russellville, AR, establishes a new high standard for quality patient care and communication with pet owners. Through their twitter feed, they update the world about the surgery status of their patients. For example:

Peco has left the OR and is in radiology post multiple fracture repair to verify hardware placement and gone alignment.

Anyone who loves animals will love following @Azzore. They provide amazing care for their patients. When our hospital first started with “tweeting”, their twitterfeed quickly became an inspiration. Take a moment today to acknowledge the great work they do!

We’re starting this blog to inform visitors about our main website, Olathe Animal Hospital, one of the best AAHA-accredited veterinary hospitals treating exotic pets, such as birds, reptiles, and other small mammals, in the Kansas City-area.

This site will showcase products, services, and businesses that help us help our animal patients!